Journal Article

An Architecture of Collective Living

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This article discusses a new neighborhood currently being designed for kibbutz Hatzor in the south of Israel. The guiding principles of this project respond to the social and economic changes undergone by the kibbutz in recent years—primarily the shift away from a collective lifestyle towards a more private one, centered around the family household. The project proposes a neighborhood model that combines individual and shared ownership: private single-family homes set within the agrarian landscape supported by the cooperative structure of the kibbutz. It searches for a middle ground between two distinct ways of living: the socialist idealism of early kibbutz settlements and the privatized lifestyle of detached suburban houses, dominating residential developments outside of Israeli metropolitan centers.

This article discusses a new neighborhood currently being designed for kibbutz Hatzor in the south of Israel. The guiding principles of this project respond to the social and economic changes undergone by the kibbutz in recent years—primarily the shift away from a collective lifestyle towards a more private one, centered around the family household. The project proposes a neighborhood model that combines individual and shared ownership: private single-family homes set within the agrarian landscape supported by the cooperative structure of the kibbutz. It searches for a middle ground between two distinct ways of living: the socialist idealism of early kibbutz settlements and the privatized lifestyle of detached suburban houses, dominating residential developments outside of Israeli metropolitan centers.